PUBG Aiming To Release On "Every Platform" And Become More Than Just A Game
It sounds like PUBG could come to PS4 in addition to Xbox One and PC.
PUBG was one of the biggest success stories of 2017 and no one is expecting the game to slow down or fall off the radar in 2018. The CEO of PUBG developer PUBG Corp, Chang Han Kim, said in a new interview that he hopes the game will one day be available on "every platform." Not only that, but he also spoke about how his aim is for PUBG to become a "universal media franchise" that could extend beyond games to TV and movies.
PUBG is now available on PC and on console through a timed-exclusivity partnership with Microsoft for the Xbox One edition. The game will stay exclusive to Xbox One "for some time," Kim told InvenGlobal, though it sounds like you can expect it on PlayStation 4 and other systems later. "If we have the opportunity, the final goal would be to launch the title on every platform," he said.
The PC edition of PUBG recently officially launched its 1.0 version while the Xbox One version remains unfinished in the Game Preview program. Despite being unfinished, the Xbox One version has been a huge hit already, selling 1 million copies in its first 48 hours. Kim added that the game has been "selling considerably" since then, and overall he described the game's commercial success on Xbox One as being "much better" than anticipated.
Kim went on to explain that part of what is keeping PUBG off PS4 for now (outside of Microsoft's timed-exclusive agreement) is that Sony's system doesn't have an Early Access/Game Preview program. This was also an issue for Ark: Survival Evolved, which launched on Xbox One much earlier than it did on PS4.
"Early Access on Steam and Game Preview on Xbox One are like pre-release, so they don't have a restriction on quality. However, PlayStation is very strict about this," Kim said. "There were cases where a game took 6 months more to launch even when it was already completed. We are still in the stage of learning the console development environment and console gamers' taste. We need to think about other platforms after evaluating and completing the Xbox One version first."
Also in the interview, Kim spoke about his ambition for PUBG to become much more than just a game. "I'd like PUBG to become a universal media franchise based on the game," he said. "We want to take part in diverse industries including Esports, movies, drama, cartoons, animation, and more. In fact, we received a couple of love calls from a number of developers in Hollywood and Netflix.
"Our dream is to build a new game-based culture through various ways like this, and have the lead of that culture."
You can read the full, wide-ranging interview here at InvenGlobal. The site went inside the company's South Korean office and has pictures of the working space.
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